As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to these users is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may vary with respect to the type of information handled; the methods for handling the information; the methods for processing, storing or communicating the information; the amount of information processed, stored, or communicated; and the speed and efficiency with which the information is processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include or comprise a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An information handling system will typically include some type of temporary information storage medium, such as random access memory (RAM) or system management RAM (SMRAM). The amount of memory included in an information handling system may be on the order of gigabytes. As memory size increases, the likelihood that part of the memory will either be manufactured defective or become defective over time increases. If left unmanaged, the presence of defective memory cells, regardless of their size, can cause the information handling system to fail. Such failure can initiate an abrupt end to the current operation of the information handling system, resulting in the loss of critical data. A memory failure could also prevent the information handling system from starting up altogether.
As information handling systems continue to evolve and computer technology advances, the operational relationship between the CPU and memory becomes more significant and complex. Many attributes of modern systems (specifically, the introduction of multi-core processors and virtualization) are contributing to an ever-larger memory footprint within a typical information handling system. Consequently, not only is system memory becoming a much more substantial percentage of the overall cost of the information handling solution, the impact of erroneous behavior in the memory can have a much more adverse effect on the life cycle expense associated with the information handling system.
Information handling systems also continue to evolve and computer technology continues to advance to provide for efficient management of energy consumption. Many information handling systems and computer systems include a system management mode (SMM) that allows energy conservation to be built into the system. SMM can initiate a sleep mode or energy conservation mode during periods of processing inactivity that can include turning off of peripheral devices, parts of the system, the entire system, etc. During these periods of inactivity, the information handling or computer system's status is maintained in SMRAM which is a secure area of memory.